Recurring Paradoxes
by gracefulsunshine
Summary: -HIATUS- 6YL, Eventual G27. There is always another reason behind every action. For instance, why Byakuran created Millefiore, possessed a burning hatred for the Vongola, and desired to obtain the Tri-Ni-Sette. It all had to do with the past, though.


Flame me all you want for the excruciatingly long A/N down below, but there are clarifications that are needed since I've diverged from canon here and there. And I'd like to explain them, because getting hit by question bombs is not particularly appealing.

**01)** _**Katekyō Hitman Reborn! **_belongs to Akira Amano. I earn nothing from romping in her playground.

**02) **There will be violence, gore, shonen-ai, and language here. For those who do not like any of the above, or the prospect of possible character deaths and angst, hit the back button _now_.

**03) **The main pairing of this fic is G27, but people are welcome to suggest side-pairings. However, the premise is focused more on plot instead of romance, so I cannot guarantee a specific amount of G27 in a chapter-if any-or even if a certain side-pairing appears. It all depends on the plot.

**04)** The time gap between generation I and X will now be 200 years, instead of the canonical 400 years. Why? If one sets this story in the present era (circa 2017), then Giotto's era would be around the 1600s. That was the age of absolutism in Western Europe; Japan was still in a period of isolationism, and Italy was reunited in _1850_, with the Sicilian Mafia also being created in the same century.

…and it's also because I'd like to keep a few facts realistic.

**05) **This is the TYL-ish version…or rather, my version of the TYL-ish version…of what was going on before the Future Arc occurred. It means that _no_, Box Weapons do not exist yet, _no_, Tsuna does not have VG, and _no_, 10th Generation Shimon will not be in here. It also means that there's no "convenient" time machine to ship Tsuna back into the past, because Vongola hasn't acquired Shoichi and Spanner yet.

But even without the Future Arc happening, Tsuna will still have X-Gloves, version (original) Vongola Ring. It clearly mentions in the manga that TYL!Tsuna passed the Trial of the Vongola Ring another way. Tsuna's ideals would have mostly remained the same, even with alternate futures…right? So his resolution would still probably be unequivocally accepted. As for the original Vongola Ring part, let's just say that both Tsuna's resolution and a hint of G27 on Giotto's part were the culprits lD

**06) **According to fanon, Giotto's Japanese name is _Ieyatsu_. According to canon, it's _Ieyasu_, due to Amano pulling names from the Tokugawa shogunate. Personally speaking, I like _Ieyatsu _better cuz it somehow looks a tad more elegant. But it'll permanently be _Ieyasu _for this story because of my anal retentive, canonical OCD. You'll see how this name gets used within a couple of chapters.

**07) **There will be absolutely no OCs casting as any of the key players (protagonist/antagonist) in this fanfiction. But on the pro side, you'll actually know all of the major characters that pop in and out of this fic.

**08) **In real mafia terms of rank, G and Gokudera would be considered _consigliore_, since they are right-hand men. But with KHR, Giotto and Tsuna simply wouldn't have put G and Gokudera, respectively, in a higher position of power than the other Guardians; favoritism much? Taking that in mind, all of the Guardians' rank will be equivalent to underbosses. And at first, G will act as a consigliore in all but name. There will be a 'true' consigliore though, and Giotto will elect the candidate, instead of the consigliore being chosen by the members of the Family [_I think you can guess where I'm going with this…right?_]

**09) **TEXTUAL/CONTEXT NOTATION, ALL HERE.

-Most of the time,I will be using "family" in two different contexts here, and I'll do my best to differentiate between the two by using capital/non-capital letters. "Family" will refer to a Mafia family, while "family" will refer to what most people consider a normal family unit. The only times I'll be using "Famiglia" are when I'm talking about a specific Family, like the "Vongola Famiglia".

**-**The Guardians will all call each other by name. I mean, six years. That's bound to have some bro fisting going on [_lololol /tonfa'd_]. This will be in effect most of the time…except for a few special circumstances, yes?

-In regards to all the Vongola Dons, I'll be using the Italian naming structure. "Vongola Secondo", "Vongola Settimo"…etc.

**10) **Because I'm such a troll, here's a number ten /tonfa'd. Actually, there's one more issue I want to hit head on in memoriam of the scrapped _Clambook_. Tsuna's been in the _Mafia _for _six_ goddamn years, and has also hung around many supposed bad influences-Gokudera, Reborn, Xanxus, Mukuro, just to name a few. There's no way in hell that he could have kept some, if not all, of his supposed mind purity; all children grow up in some way…one day. Granted, Tsuna will not develop a swearing habit like Gokudera or Romano (from _**Axis Powers Hetalia**_), but he will rarely show his innocent side here. Deal with it.

If there are any more questions that I didn't answer after reading this chapter and onwards, then just drop a review or PM me. I'll answer them to the best of my ability, though without giving away too much of the plot.

Other than that…I'll try my best to actually _complete_ the fanfiction this time, so please enjoy!

* * *

><p>In one way or another, the saying "your first kill will haunt you" was actually true.<p>

_But it was highly ironic, _twenty-five-year-old Sawada Tsunayoshi, more commonly known as Vongola Decimo, absently mused, _that his supposed first kill (courtesy of his younger self) had actually come to haunt his life-in almost every way possible to humans, that is-after more than a half decade of repose. _

After all, the whole fiasco with Byakuran was more than a time paradox.

It was a recurring paradox.

* * *

><p><em>It was pitch black. All he could smell was the telltale, sickly-sweet stench of blood-<em>perhaps an ambush or a skirmish?_ Tsuna blindly walked forward, his trained ears picking up the raucous calls of crows and other carrion eaters. He couldn't tell if anyone else was here, in this world of dreams. It was as if time had frozen, just for him. _

_Especially for him. He was, after all, the _Vongola Decimo_. The Don of the strongest Mafia Family in Italy. And the Mafia knew no bounds when it came to disproving impossibilities…Right?_

_But then, he saw…himself, slowly staggering through the bloodstained grass of what looked like to be the courtyard of the Vongola Headquarters, clutching the side of his torso as blood dripped ever so slowly onto the already unnaturally crimson grass. This other version was clothed in a tattered, frayed suit, with blood splattered here and there; he looked jaded and wearier than ever, even though a relieved smile graced his face. But nevertheless, it was _him_. _

_And he was holding-what looked like to be-Vongola Primo's pocket-watch in one gloved hand._

_Wait. Vongola Primo. The founder of the Vongola Famiglia. _

_His pocketwatch was in his dream self's hand. _

_As far as he was concerned, Primo's pocket-watch was last seen in the owner's tomb._

What was going on?

_Suddenly, the Tsuna in the dream broke out into a shambling run, his eyes widening in growing terror. He tried to scream, shout, yell- anything to stop some oncoming horror, but for some reason reason, no sound came out._

_He spun around and saw the Vongola Primo, whose gentle expression had turned into the utmost mask of shock-_

_-Primo was- _

_-he slowly collapsed onto the ground-_

_-the unknown_ _enemy had efficiently killed him with a blow to the stomach, just like that-_

_-Giotto would die in fifteen minutes, all while suffering the pain due to the stomach acid leaking out-_

_-there was nothing he could do, this was a dream; not even his dream self could seem to do anything-_

_Then, a cry of anguish sounded in the quiet atmosphere. It was the dream-Tsuna, murmuring in disbelief, "This wasn't supposed to happen, I thought all of them had already been eliminated; Giotto, don't die on me!" _

_The last thing his senses could detect before darkness engulfed him again was a lilac glint and the faint, delicate smell of confectionaries._

* * *

><p>He felt someone's gun poke his temple. <em>Was that Reborn's pistol-?<em> "Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna's head snapped up from the conference table. "Did we finish the meeting, Reborn?" he sleepily mumbled. "Sorry for dozing off like that, I only got two hours of sleep last night." He thought the ex-Arcobaleno was going to punish him in the usual way and flinched, but Reborn's punishment never came.

So Tsuna looked up and found all his Guardians staring at him with concerned expressions to various degrees. "What happened?"

There was a pregnant pause right after the brunet voiced his question. But finally, Gokudera answered for him. "We were discussing our current negotiations with the Nero Family when you fell asleep, Juudaime. None of us noticed-probably except for Reborn-san-until you started screaming."

"Wait, I was screaming?" he blinked. The only screams that happened in the dream was the dream-Tsuna's anguished cry…if one wanted to count that as a scream. _That was me?_

They all mutely nodded.

"What did you dream about, Tsuna?" Yamamoto was smiling, but they could all visibly tell that it was strained.

"Blood, guts, and gore." _It was somewhat true, anyways._ "You know, the usual topics one usually dreams of when being in the Mafia. Maybe my subconscious was regretting something, like it used to in the good old days." He lightly laughed, and turned the conversation back to the matters on hand. "Now, I want to know who demolished the left wing this week…"

Tsuna finally breathed a sigh of relief when the last of his Guardians exited the conference room. Oh, lord. It took all his concentration and strength to keep Hibari and Mukuro from trying to end each other's lives along with the poor building framework, and thankfully, no one caught his white lie-though Reborn wasn't a given. He got out of the chair and began to walk out of the room before-

_Oh, shit._

A single shot rang through the air, grazing his ear and causing a few strands of auburn hair to gently float on the carpet as the bullet embedded itself in the patterned wallpaper. "I think we need to have a talk, Tsuna," Reborn quietly said as he put his gun back in its holster. It meant _care to tell me about this dream of yours?_ in Reborn-ese. "Both of us know that your dream wasn't normal." The words left unsaid were that of _you're a century too young to think about lying to me_.

"Fine, but if you tell anyone else, especially my Guardians, I'll kill you. I don't want them knowing about this for several reasons."

The hitman raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless nodded. "Tell me once we reach your office. Anyone can be eavesdropping on us at this point, _even _if one of the best security systems in the world is installed in this room." Reborn shot a dark glare at some invisible spot in the room, near the entrance.

A few seconds later, Tsuna could hear ex-Mist Arcobaleno mutter, "Screw you, Reborn."

"Viper's probably going back to the Varia Headquarters to report to Xanxus, who's probably going to say _'that brat had an unnatural nightmare? So typical of a trashy shrimp'_," Tsuna faintly smiled as they walked the short distance to his office. "He would, you know." He quickly punched in the numbers into the lock, and then let the scanner read his eye data. The door silently opened after that, and Tsuna sank down onto the leather chair that was behind the slightly cumbersome yet embellished, polished desk.

* * *

><p>"Perhaps." The door to the office closed with a soft click when Reborn casually leaned on it, crossed his arms, and tipped his fedora downwards. "Okay, shoot."<p>

"I know we're not supposed to give that much notice to dreams, but there's something about this one that…" Tsuna trailed off after he finished recounting the details in the dream. "I don't know, it bothers me because some other version of me was in the dream, and in the same dream, Primo was murdered by some unknown enemy."

Reborn nodded in reply. He was silent for a few minutes, and when he finally spoke, Tsuna had to strain his ears to hear the hitman's comment. "It might be a premonition. After all, your Hyper Intuition is pretty strong."

"But even that doesn't explain the presence of _Vongola Primo_ of all people in my dream." Tsuna frowned, his mind scrambling to uncover more reasons as a pianist hand absently drummed a rhythmic pattern on the desk's surface. "If the Vongola Primo had died before he went to Japan, I should be dead by now. There's nothing in the world that will let one travel back into the past, two hundred years ago, and Lambo's Bazooka only lets us go only ten years into the future for only five minutes. That-"

"Is exactly what we need," Reborn calmly finished. "Our future selves may be able to give you some information on how to get back into the past."

Caramel eyes widened. "But what if I go into an alternate future where this type of thing never happened?"

"Trust me, you probably won't encounter that possibility," the hitman reassured the other. "I'll torture Lambo to an inch of his life if he shoots you into the wrong future."

"Wait. Lambo...intentionally shooting me. You're serious." _Knowing Lambo, he's probably going to try and do something else to irritate Reborn_, Tsuna wryly thought. _But wait, something about this doesn't seem right-_

Reborn stepped sideways as the door was flung open to reveal the bawling Thunder Guardian. And as if this had been staged, Lambo shot the Ten-Year-Bazooka.

It was about to hit the prepubescent Mafioso when Reborn deftly kicked it straight at Tsuna.

"What did I tell you, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn smirked. "I'm omniscient as you can get" –the Vongola Decimo finally disappeared into a cloud of light pink smoke- "which is why I'm the world's number one hitman." He turned to face the only other occupant in the room, stared at him for a long while, and grudgingly sighed.

"How much candy do I owe you?"

* * *

><p><em>Note to self: find out where Lambo keeps his fucking bazooka. Then I can permanently take it away from him and slag goddamn thing<em>, Tsuna sardonically mused as he went down the flashy tunnel to the future.

* * *

><p>When the smoke finally cleared from his vision, the brunet could finally see his surroundings. Surprisingly, he was still in the office that he was in a couple of seconds ago-well, ten years ago, technically. Everything seemed to be the same, except for one of the chairs that was turned the other way.<p>

And according to his Hyper Intuition, Reborn was also in the room. Which was another surprise. _Really, was this all staged or something? _Tsuna mused. _Of course, Reborn could have put LCD in my food the other day-_

"If you're wondering if I've slipped anything into your food today, ten years ago, I assure you that it never happened," a dark voice said genially, a hint of amusement coloring his words. "Though if you want, I could somehow manage for my past self to do that for you. Just imagine the possibilities. Taste the rainbow that is drugs. Wildly hallucinate. Experience a high. Lose yourself in just physical 'action'."

_Glad to know that you're still twisted as ever…even after ten years, Reborn._ Tsuna sighed. "And you're telling me this even though you've never taken drugs in your life?" the brunet aimed his voice as high as he could and did his best to mimic the other's infant voice, "_Because if I took drugs, what would I be? Second-best hitman, that's what_." He lightly laughed, and with a duck and tilt, dodged the lazy shot that Reborn aimed at his head in retaliation.

"Anyway, the information you need is on the desk, in form of a letter written by your future self. You know the drill; read, memorize, destroy. I'm under orders to not give you any more details than that, in order to make sure that you don't change a future outcome."

"Understood." _I thought that wasn't promoted due to a chance possibility of time paradoxes?_ Tsuna thought to himself, but stored the unsettling thought into a dark corner of his mind as he turned to the main task at hand. Slightly trembling hands picked up the piece of paper from the desk, and chocolate eyes began to read the words on the paper.

_To the past Tsuna,_

_Giving out information about the oncoming future this freely is generally not encouraged because of the likelihood of time paradoxes. _

-_Exactly my point_, the brunet snorted derisively-

_However, I do this while disregarding the age-old rule because in doing so, a bright future for the whole Family can still be maintained. There is a high possibility (in your time) that Vongola Primo may be at risk of dying at the hands of an unnatural enemy before his emigration to Japan. If this happens, the whole Vongola and the people connected to Vongola will cease to exist._

_There was a reason why you had that premonition, which was in part caused by the Vongola Ring and also by the Hyper Intuition. This was one of the potential outcomes of what could occur. In order to make sure that particular outcome never occurs, I suggest travelling back into the past. Obviously, since you don't have Shoichi-kun and Spanner-kun with you,_

-_Wait, who is he talking about?_ Tsuna inwardly grumbled. There was no need for his future self to act like an egotistical, bigheaded prick-

_Giannini, even with his now useful skills, won't be able to create a time machine within a day to transport you back into the past. Nevertheless, I'm sure that either Reborn or some other Arcobaleno has told you about the Tri-Ni-Sette by now; that _the Sea knows no bounds, the Clam passes down its form from Generation to Generation, and the Rainbow appears from time to time before fading away._ For example, the Hyper Intuition is passed down from I to X, Mare Rings hold the power to move horizontally among Parallel Worlds, and the Arcobaleno always appear as points of the Space-Time Axis._

_The Mare Sky Ring can allow a user to access parallel worlds, so logic dictates that the Vongola Sky Ring can allow its user to be sent into the past or the future. With that in mind, you can use the Vongola Sky Ring to transport yourself into the past. However, when you are in the past, make sure that _no one_ knows about the future. Not even a word can be uttered about this era, because if you do happen to do this-even a slip of words and/or a single mistake will cause your whole existence to be forgotten, all your relationships to be ancient history (for a lack of better terms) and you yourself to be destroyed. To sum it up, it could cause a time paradox and alter the whole future past the First Generation Vongola. _

_I can only hope that this information is used wisely, my younger self. Be cautious of your every action, thought, and words; you never know if you're alone, especially in the 1800s. _

_Best of luck on your adventure,_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo_

As soon as he finished reading the letter, Tsuna felt himself traveling back in time.

_Well. That was useful_, the brunet sarcastically thought as he somehow tucked the letter into a convenient pocket, an eye visibly twitching. _So I have to somehow travel back into the past, make sure Vongola Primo doesn't die, and defeat this unknown enemy. Oh, and I also can't reveal anything about the future, or else I'll cease to exist. How lovely._

He landed back in the leather chair with a resounding thump.

"So how was your trip?" the other occupant of the room asked. "It better have not gone to waste, or I'll make you do a couple of laps around the headquarters as punishment before you go back into the past."

In reply, Tsuna shoved his future self's letter in front of Reborn's face. "It's from the future me." He paused for a second, and then hesitantly asked, "Reborn?"

"What." It was voiced more like a command than a question, but at this point, Tsuna didn't care.

"I know that lying to _Family _of all people is practically heresy…" the brunet inwardly gulped when he saw the hitman's obsidian eyes narrow, catlike, but nevertheless continued, "But just this once, will you lie to the Family or something, anything to deter them from knowing what I'm really doing, and say that I'm on a top secret mission? It's half-true, anyways, but they know that you usually accompany me to almost everything since you're my consigliore. I…" he stared at his hands sadly, unable to finish.

"You don't want them to worry about you this time, don't you?" a quiet voice finished for him, and he nodded silently.

"If anyone knows about this, other than you or me, rumors will start word will soon reach the other Families. I don't want Vongola under attack if I return." A faint smile tugged on Tsuna's lips, "I would ask you to go back into the past with me, but the Guardians will need your support more, in order to keep Vongola at its top condition. At the very least, you'll keep the Family together…right?"

"Yes, boss."

Tsuna smirked. "It means that you get to do all my paperwork while I'm gone~" He had to dodge sideways to avoid getting hit by a hammer.

"Gokudera can do that for you," Reborn replied as he fed the letter into the fire. "Judging by the information that your future self gave us, you'll be using your Vongola Ring as a medium to travel back into the past. You could go back right now, but this era's modern clothes highly contrast with the 1800s fashion style. The authorities would probably catch you in a minute and you'd lose your cover, if you had any. So…" he reached down and grabbed something. What it was, Tsuna didn't know, but it seemed lightweight.

"Take this." The hitman dropped a small-no, literally-pack on the desk. "You'll find your battle gear, a couple sets of clothes, toiletries, and enough rations and money to last a month each. Also" –he tossed the other a grimy set of clothes- "I suggest you wear these clothes; people in the 1800s are a bit more unhygienic than what we're used to, here in the twenty-first century. The fashion at that time was also different."

For a moment, Tsuna couldn't find any words to say. "Thank you, Reborn. Thank you so much," the brunet said, smiling gratefully at the other occupant in the room.

"You can repay me by buying me more of my custom espresso." Said man smirked. "Or I can torture you for a full day. Hn, let's go with that…" he turned the other way and started walking out the office. Before he passed the threshold, though, he turned back and said, "Don't cease to exist, Dame-Tsuna; we're all depending on you to uphold the Vongola." Then he disappeared.

Tsuna quietly smiled to himself. _Reborn's still Reborn, even after six years._ He took a look in the grubby sack; chocolate eyes widened. "Talk about hammerspace," the brunet muttered to himself, his expression a mix of shock and awe. "To have collected all of this in five minutes…no, wait." His Hyper Intuition prickled in his mind, as if to say '_you're wrong'_, and then _'hurry up, you're wasting precious time here, moping around'._ "Then…" he sighed. "I'll just ask Reborn on how he managed to get this much stuff for me when I get back." He turned to look at the clothes that Reborn had shoved in front of him. _Might as well do that now_. He quickly got changed and shoved his suit into a convenient file cabinet. "It'll do, for the moment. Now then…" Making sure that he had everything in the sack, the brunet held his hand with the Vongola Ring on it up to eye level.

"So, how do I time travel? My future self said that the Vongola Ring would act as a medium for me to travel into the past, which is somewhat like Lambo's bazooka. The only thing is that the bazooka has a trigger. There's none on the Ring, even though this is the original form. Great," Tsuna said to himself. "They want me to go to the past, yet I have no way to actually _do_ that." He frowned. _There must be some way…_

The brunet was so deep in thought that he never noticed that his whole body was disappearing into bright flash of light. When he finally did, he was shooting back in time.

* * *

><p>Tsuna immediately gagged at the revolting smell when his senses returned to normal again. <em>Time travel is certainly disorienting, <em>he wryly thought. It was as if up was down, left was right, and wrong was true. If he had to pick between Reborn and time-traveling, he'd actually-_for once-_pick Reborn.

And _that_ was saying something.

He took a quick glance of his surroundings. No wonder this place stunk to high hell; he had somehow landed in the _sewers _of all places. And there was a battle going on. Oh, lovely. If he remembered correctly, Giotto's era also took place during one of the most violent mafia wars known in Mafia history. _It'd be best to find an exit, and then mingle with the townspeople until I can somehow get into the Vongola Headquarters without being suspicious._

So the brunet threaded his way in and out the now-apparent skirmish, narrowly dodging the rare misplaced bullet when they came at him, and relied on his Hyper Intuition when he got to a couple of intersections. After what felt like an hour of torture-but was probably only fifteen minutes-Tsuna could finally see light coming through a hole. _Finally-_but his Hyper Intuition was definitely telling him that something was wrong. The brunet found out why when he walked a bit closer and saw…

"Who are you?"

Tsuna inwardly gulped when he caught sight of two very large, hulking men clad in white uniforms. _This isn't going to end well._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Pros:<strong>_ Got this done on the FORI anniversary/self-imposed deadline, yay! _**Cons:**_ Probably is filled with enough shit that I forgot to filter out (yeah, I also probably rushed. Shoot me). Originally intended the chapter to be only 2000 words; ended up getting 3000+ /facedesk But it's almost always quality over quantity, right :D

Updates will be _very_ sporadic; Story Alerting/Author Alerting, if not done already, is highly suggested.

(It's more like "updates are sporadic because I have a muse who seriously loves being a fickle, sadistic bitch at times." /shot)


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